Darwin’s Venison Jerky Treats for Dogs – Venison Meat for Dogs

Remy and I want to let you know about the high-quality venison jerky treats from our sponsor, Darwin’s Natural Pet Products!

These venison jerky treats are sourced and made in the USA from 100% grass-fed venison (deer) meat.

Darwin’s venison jerky meat is antibiotic and hormone free and 100% USDA inspected (human grade).

The treats contain no grains or fillers of any kind.

They are designed with dog training in mind and can be broken into small sizes to reward your dog. My dog Remy loves these treats!

In this post:

• Darwin’s venison jerky treats review
• Benefits of real meat jerky treats for dogs
• Health benefits of venison for dogs
• Is wild venison safe for dogs?

Darwin’s venison jerky for dogs review

My Weimaraner Remy loves the venison jerky treats from Darwin’s!

I like to use these treats for training him to come when called when we’re hiking and to keep his attention when we train for agility. (He likes to “choose his own adventure.”)

When I’m carrying the venison jerky treats in my pocket, my dog magically listens to me! Weird. Haha.

We love these healthy treats and highly recommend Darwin’s because they’re made with grass-fed venison without grains, preservatives or fillers.

The Darwin’s venison jerky treats are sold in 4-ounce packages for $8.99. This ends up being about ten 6-inch jerky sticks.

How to order Darwin’s jerky treats

Venison jerky treats are available to Darwin’s existing subscription customers. Darwin’s subscription meal delivery frequency can be customized, but most customers receive deliveries every two weeks. Customers have the option of adding jerky treats (and other goodies like duck necks) to any order.

If you’d like to order Darwin’s raw food for your dog, it’s really easy to get started. Darwin’s has an awesome trial offer: 10 pounds of food for just $14.95! That’s up to 75% off! No code required. Learn more.

If you’re an existing Darwin’s customer, to add venison jerky treats to your order, visit myaccount.darwinspet.com, call Darwin’s customer service at 877.738.6325 or send their customer service an email at info@darwinspet.com

Their customer service is extremely prompt and helpful!

Darwin’s real meat dog treat ingredients

Darwin’s makes its Natural Selections Venison Jerky treats from 100% grass-fed venison meat.

Ingredients include:

• smoked venison meat
• venison heart & kidney
• venison tongue
• salt

Simply, they are REAL meat treats!

Darwin’s is a raw dog food and raw cat food company, but their jerky treats are made with smoked venison meat. Learn more about their treats HERE.

Benefits of Darwin’s real meat venison jerky treats for dogs:

1. Real meat is best for dogs!

Dogs are meat eaters and have no reason to eat corn, soy or grain – these are just cheap fillers that many dog food and treat companies use to save money.

Sure, dogs can get by on a little “junk food” every now and then but it’s best if the majority of their treats are healthy.

I do a lot of training with Remy, and I prefer that the majority of his treats are real meat such as the Darwin’s venison treats.

2. Convenience.

Another great thing about these jerky treats is when I take Remy on long runs and hikes, I have a convenient, healthy snack for him to enjoy when out on the trails all day. They fit easily in my running pack.

We recently went camping and we brought both our Darwin’s patties and jerky treats along (see the photo below).

3. No preservatives or fillers.

The Darwin’s jerky treats are made without preservatives, chemicals, dyes or fillers. (For that reason, it’s probably best to refrigerate these treats after opening.)

Health benefits of venison for dogs

Venison meat is healthy for both dogs and people. Venison meat contains:

iron, B vitamins, zinc, phosphorous and copper.

You can add venison to your dog’s homemade raw diet or homemade cooked diet.

Here is a detailed article from Bridger Animal Nutrition here in Bozeman, Mont., about the health benefits of including venison in your dog’s diet. Bridger Animal Nutrition is a local health food store for pets and livestock.

Venison is also found in some commercial dog foods and treats, such as the Darwin’s treats. If your dog has food sensitivities to other proteins like beef or chicken, then venison is a great option to try.

Is wild venison safe for dogs?

Darwin’s does not use wild venison for its jerky treats. They are made from ranch-raised venison, free of antibiotics and hormones. However, those who feed their dogs a raw diet might be wondering if it’s safe to feed a dog wild deer meat.

Yes, wild deer meat is safe for dogs

The answer is yes!

Obviously one of the main benefits of wild venison meat for dogs (or for people) is that the deer are “free range” and basically “organic” as they are wild. (Keep in mind, a lot of deer still eat a lot of corn, depending on how close they live to corn fields.)

It’s best to take a few precautions and use common sense when handling wild venison meat or any wild game meat for yourself or for your dog (or any raw meat, for that matter!).

Safety tips when feeding raw venison meat to dogs

1. Freeze the deer meat for three weeks before feeding. This will kill any potential parasites found in the meat. People obviously eat wild venison with no issues but we cook the meat first, which also kills any potential parasites.

2. Slight risk for Chronic Wasting Disease. The blog My Rotten Dogs has a good article on feeding wild game to your dog and the potential for deer to have or carry Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). This disease does not seem to affect dogs or wolves but can transfer to people.

3. All of the deer meat and organs are safe to feed. Just freeze first or cook the meat, see above. (Note that organ meat is more “rich” so introduce it slowly.)

4. Don’t give your dog the weight-bearing deer bones. You CAN give them to your dog but know your dog’s chewing style.

See our post: Which raw bones are safe for my dog?

I don’t give my dog Remy large bones because he is a hard chewer and I worry he will fracture a tooth or try to swallow large chunks of bone. Remy only eats raw chicken, duck (shown above) and turkey bones.

Never give your dog any type of cooked bones.

5. Seasoned deer sausage or jerky is not good for dogs. If you accept venison jerky or sausage from a friend, go ahead and enjoy it but it’s probably best not to give to your dog.

Deer sausage or jerky has likely been seasoned and could lead to an upset stomach for your pup! The Darwin’s venison treats are a much better choice since it’s made specifically for dogs!

So there you have it!

Remy’s diet is mostly food from Darwin’s, but as my husband does more and more hunting we will definitely be looking into adding some deer meat to Remy’s diet as well as our own meals.

Would your dog like to try the Darwin’s Venison Jerky Treats?

Let me know in the comments!

Learn more about the Darwin’s jerky treats on their website HERE.

Related posts:

Darwin’s raw dog food review

Raw dog food for beginners

Can dogs eat raw pork?

Lindsay Stordahl is the founder of That Mutt. She writes about dog training and behavior, healthy raw dog food and running with dogs.